I cannot believe that my time at YES Prep has come to an end! Over the past year, I have met so many exceptional people and honed skills that I didn’t even know I have. As I look back, I am certain that no other postgrad experience could match my time at YES. Had it not been for my Impact Fellowship, I would never have been given access to the people and types of projects I learned from over the past year.

I have many surprising and funny stories about my time at YES, but the one I would like to share is about my favorite project. As resident millennial of the Communications & Marketing team, I slipped into the position of social media marketing expert. For YES Prep Senior Signing Day, an opportunity for each graduating student to reveal their college choice to friends, family, staff, and supporters, I organized a social media campaign to publicize the event.

For two weeks, I photographed students with their college paraphernalia, and each day for 30 days prior to the event, we featured a student on the YES Prep Instagram with the hashtag “sayyestocollege.” On my first visit, I met a student who had been accepted to six Ivy League schools, as well as Davidson. On her Davidson acceptance letter, however, I noticed Chris Gruber, Dean of Admissions, had written a personal note of congratulations. As a Davidson alum, it was exciting to see first generation college-goers provided with the same opportunities as any other student in America, regardless of race, gender, class, or economic status. As I laughed and mingled with the students that day, I felt similarly fortunate for the amazing opportunities provided to me through the Impact Fellows Program.

The chance to apply what we learn at school to the non-profit sector is imperative in continuing our lives of service beyond four years at college. I have cherished my time at YES and look forward to seeing all that our future Impact Fellows accomplish, as I am sure the program will see more success with each year!

If you would like to watch a video of the YES Prep Senior Signing Day ceremony, you can find it here!

Working as an Impact Fellow for YES Prep Public Schools certainly ensures that my days are never predictable. Collaboration with the Communications, Advancement, and District Partnership Teams provides me with varied insight into the professional world I never would have gained in another postgrad position. Apart from planning the YES Prep College Rush Run, I’ve assisted with organizing press conferences, currently serve on a task force which works to place students into our schools, and will soon learn video production and website management.

While I enjoy every aspect of my fellowship, working from the Home Office means I don’t interact with kids on campuses as much as other YES Prep employees. During the fall college fair, however, I was able to see for myself the incredible opportunities YES provides its students. As I passed around information about the upcoming run to college representatives, I obviously kept an eye out for the Davidson table. It was exciting to see a fellow Wildcat just a few weeks before my own first homecoming as a Davidson graduate. As a YES Prep Impact School, each year, Davidson accepts cohorts of students and partners with the College Initiatives team to ensure their success.

Sarah McIlroy, Davidson Admissions Counselor, and me at the YES Prep College Fair!

After chatting with Sarah McIlroy, the Davidson admissions counselor, I stepped back and watched the gym of YES Prep’s Southeast campus fill with eager high school seniors. As I looked over the crowded space, it dawned on me: every single one of them will be accepted to college. Here, I saw, hundreds of students, many whose first generation immigrant families never envisioned higher education for their children, speaking to over 150 of college counselors. For these students and their parents, college was no longer a reach, but a reality that YES Prep made possible.

It’s difficult to describe the excitement I felt that day, and I’m unsure if I conveyed it successfully, but in that moment at the college fair, I was infinitely thankful to have been partnered with an organization dedicated to its success. Am I surprised that YES Prep was named one of Houston’s the Best Places to Work? Not really, I witness the hard work and creativity of my coworkers every day and am lucky to be amongst them. I look forward to seeing YES Prep grow and am thankful to become a small part of their efforts!

Jason Bernal, president of YES Prep, announcing expansion at the press conference I worked today.

Thanks to the generous efforts and foresight of our benefactors, I am the first Davidson Impact Fellow for YES Prep Public Schools in Houston, Texas. Having only begun a few short months ago, I’m grateful to already have gained such valuable experience from this opportunity.

For fifteen years, YES Prep has provided an outstanding college preparatory education to over 8,000 low-income students at thirteen campuses sprawled across Houston. By rapidly increasing the number of college graduates in urban areas, YES Prep “redefines possible” in the arena of public education. Serving Houstonians since 1998, today, Jason Bernal, president of YES Prep, officially announced the expansion to Memphis, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans starting in 2015. My work, however, happens at the home office, where the committed, supportive, and energetic staff made my transition into the role of Operations Special Project Manager an easy and exciting one. Along with organizing special events, such as the second annual YES Prep College Rush 5K/10K fun run fundraiser, I collaborate with the Communications and Advancement teams on various projects. While I’m incredibly fortunate to work with wonderful people, I also know my four years at Davidson equipped me with invaluable knowledge that I bring with me to YES every day.

The following are the top 3 things I’m glad I learned at Davidson:

1. Don’t be Afraid to Ask for help

As Davidson students, we reside in a couple key spots: the library, the union, our dorms, and…office hours. I remember when I arrived as a freshman, I was immediately encouraged to develop close relationships with my professors and to visit their offices regularly. I didn’t understand the importance of communicating openly with mentors and asking for help until later, but it definitely became an important part of my Davidson experience. On my first day at work, my boss, Mark DiBella, said, “My door is always open. You can never ask too many questions or e-mail me too many times. Don’t ever hesitate to reach out.” I knew immediately that we would develop a good working relationship. For my latest project, YES Prep College Rush, I found myself completely unfamiliar with race organization. I joked with my friends who had joined running clubs after college to meet new people and vowed that would not be me…Irony is a real thing. First day on the job, and here I was, tasked with organizing a 5K/10K in downtown Houston. Together, however, Mark and I created a project plan and financial model sustainable enough to function for the event in years to come.

2. Being Overwhelmed…it’s okay

Much of my position at YES Prep requires that I reach out to external partners or employees at different campuses. People I communicate with regularly range from our race director for College Rush, alumni, donors, teachers, and school directors, etc. My work depends on very busy people’s ability to get back to me…, which, at times, is fairly frustrating. Luckily, as a Davidson alum, I’m accustomed to this ceaseless sense of minor panic. Work was never really over at school. The best you could do was manage your own time as best as possible. At YES, when I needed to schedule appointments with someone whose Outlook calendar was so full, it looked more like a work of abstract art, or when my coworkers used multiple acronyms in one sentence (TNTP, AD, SD, OPS, TE…still learning what these mean.), I simply remembered to let the moment of anxiety pass and reach out to someone for their thoughts. I found that most often, my coworkers always responded with valuable support and advice.

3. Working with Multiple Different Teams/Leaders

Trisha Cornwell, Director of Communications, and me…accidental Twin Day at the office.

When people ask what I like most about Davidson, one of my immediate answers remains the ample opportunity for students to assume positions of leadership in varied aspects of campus life. At Davidson, multiple student leaders support and work with one another due to a spirit of collaboration across campus organizations. At YES, I work with both the Communications and Advancement teams. For the Communications team, I will organize video production, and for the Advancement team, I serve as a liaison for YES Prep Professionals, a group of young professionals supporting YES. I’m certain, however, that my comfort working with multiple people across organizational fields originates from a similar experience at Davidson.

While in my first exposure to postgrad life, my list of “Things I Learned at College” seems endless, I’m glad to incorporate these specific skills into my Impact Fellowship. The rest, I plan on learning from my coworkers who surprise me each day with their dedication to eliminating educational inequity, resolve, and humor. I hope to emulate their work ethic and serve YES Prep in the same way.